Data & Analytics

New York -- Virgin Mobile will open a flagship on Thursday in Chicago, the New York Times reported. The wireless company, which is owned by Sprint, hopes to build awareness of its brand by redefining the relationship between the customer and the carrier, according to the report.

By Jeff Fowler, [email protected]

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Mobile retail navigation service aisle411 said Tuesday that it is rolling out its virtual mapping and navigation smartphone app for use in Walgreens’ 7,907 drug stores nationwide.

The service will allow Walgreens shoppers to use their smartphones to view maps of any Walgreens store and to locate products down to a particular section of each aisle.

Walgreens is the first national retailer with all of its stores mapped in a mobile application.

Miami -- Mobile coupon application provider Geopon said Tuesday that it has collaborated with mall owner Westfield to debut an Android app that combines geo-targeted coupons with electronic reward programs and payment processing.
 
The new app launched Tuesday in the South Florida market and, said Geopon, will soon be joined by the iPhone, which is currently in beta testing.

The entire platform will be unveiled on Sept. 6 at the Westfield Broward Mall, in Plantation, Fla.

New York -- Safeway’s store in Bozeman, Mont., was recently awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. It is the first LEED for Retail certified store in the state of Montana, and one of roughly 200 LEED-certified grocery stores in the United States.

NEW YORK — Barnes & Noble has announced the appointment of Thomas Donohue as VP treasurer; Kanuj Malhotra as VP corporate development; and the promotion of Andy Milevoj to VP investor relations, all reporting directly to Mike Huseby, CFO.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Global e-commerce software provider ChannelAdvisor is hosting a webinar to help retailers prepare their e-commerce operations for the upcoming holiday season.

Hosted by ChannelAdvisor CEO Scot Wingo, the webinar, titled "The Top Ten Essential Holida To-Dos for Online Retailers," will offer retailers 10 must-dos in order to capitalize on increased online shopping during the holiday months.

WASHINGTON — U.S. retail sales declined during the month of June, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

U.S. retail and food services sales for the month, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $401.5 billion, an decrease of 0.5% from the previous month but 3.8% above the year-ago period. Retail trade sales were down 0.5% from last month but 3.5% above last year.

ARMONK, N.Y. — Retailers that want to grow sales and improve customer loyalty would be wise to invest in mobile shopping. According to a new report from IBM, retailers experienced 15% growth in sales from mobile devices. Conversely, sales traced to social media were down 20%.

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